Is anyone else going over in sugars?

fuzzymop55

My sugar goal is 24g a day. I notice it's pretty impossible to not go over on sugars. I don't drink soda or juices laced with sugars however, If I eat just one dannon oikos greek yogurt thats 22g and it will pretty much put me over my sugar limits. I've been struggling to not go over on sugars or protein. Is it a huge deal?

bkr45678

I ignore sugars from dairy, fruit, and vegetables. As long as you don't have health issues I really don;t think it matters very much. Just my opinion.

LilysMama0109

I go over in protein and sugars most days too. I will be looking forward to a response from this question. Thanks for posting it.

bkr45678

I go over in protein and sugars most days too. I will be looking forward to a response from this question. Thanks for posting it.

MFP's protein is really a minimum, i eat anywhere from 95-120 grams of protein daily.

geojeepgirl

I do all the time, and lordy it doesnt take much.

Yeller_Sensation

I deliberately and happily go over every day.

drchu

I suppose you are not the only one that's over on sugar, happens to me all the time, I agree with bkr, maybe if you are up mainly from sugar contained in whole wheat cereals, dairy or fruit, it's not that important (unless you have a medical condition such as diabetes, you shouldn't worry) I believe it will be a problem when the high sugar consumption comes from sodas, candy, and added sugars.

cheerchicksie

For me I usually end up eating 2-3, sometimes 4x over my sugar goal, even though its not really "added sugars" lol.

I guess the best thing to do is be careful where you are getting the sugar from though...like, for instance, you could pick a different brand of yogurt or something. (Oikos nonfat plain has 7g sugar/cup - I think. So do some of Yoplait's 100-calorie cup packs.)

But just in general, look for lower-sugar options where you can...for instance, berries generally have much less sugar than bananas, grapes, and dried fruit. and, of course, avoid processed and refined stuff. like don't add extra sugar to coffee, don't eat stuff like pop tarts or jolly ranchers or things like that, etc. hope this helps!

fuzzymop55

Thanks for all the helpful feedback. I will look into the other greek yogurts, I just happen to like that one with the fruit on the bottom. I don't really put added sugars in coffee [keeping coffee at 1-2 cups a day] and using a fat free coffee creamer. Juices I was limiting to one glass of regular grape juice and holy mothballs the calories and sugar. I have since switched to the ocean spray diet blueberry juice and probably will never get used to the fake sugars in it but it's 5 calories so I'll suck it up. As I mentioned before I'm not drinking soda and pretty much everything else in my diet is sugars from vegges fresh or frozen and from the few carbs. I don't go over in the fats,carbs, calories but man it makes me have a super frown face when every day I go over in the sugar and protein and it's not even by much. I think it hasn't even been 54g which is the amount in a can of soda!

toddis

It's my understanding that it's the added sugars that you should worry about.

acpaton92

With things like fruits and grains, sugars aren't a huge deal. It's the refined and added sugars that are more of a worry. If something is really high in sugar and you're not sure why, just check the ingredients for added or refined sugar. Some yogurts have more sugar added to them than there needs to be.

mlima14

We go over in sugar because life today is chalk full of refined sugar in the majority of our foods. Probably a hundred years ago or maybe more before the making of sugar in Europe we didn't consume as much, but unfortunately if we were to eat like that now we wouldn't like our food very much. There probably wasn't any chocolate or candy bars or ice cream. Nope I wouldn't like.

anne_adams

I go over almost every day. I also find it impossible. I like fruit and that sends it way over goal. I figure it is better to get a sugar fix from fruit that chocolate... which is what I really want!!!

SuzMcH

Often if I'm over in sugar it's because of fruit. Which I always counted as "good" sugar. So unless I eat a tub of Ben and Jerrys and taht causes me to go over, I'm generally OK with a little over.

elephant_in_the_room

My sugar goal is 24g a day. I notice it's pretty impossible to not go over on sugars. I don't drink soda or juices laced with sugars however, If I eat just one dannon oikos greek yogurt thats 22g and it will pretty much put me over my sugar limits. I've been struggling to not go over on sugars or protein. Is it a huge deal?

I nearly always go over. Some days I almost only live on milk and apples. Both are foods that contain the wrong sugar:calorie ratio and so, bang, the sugar is way too high. I ignore it. They should classify the sugars into natural occurring sugars and added sugars, and also by different sugars - a.small 100g apple has around 10g sugar, of which 5 are fructose and 5 sucrose. The sugar in milk is entirely galactose. But I guess since these sugar classifications are very hard to get and not listed in the analysis on food packaging, it would be very hard to get those differences into the database. So, all you can do is ignore the sugars that you know were a natural part of a healthy food.

thinagain2011

Glad Im not the only one! It's almost impossible for me to not go over on sugar. I HATE seeing the red negative numbers, even on vitamins lol. Just makes me feel bad. I try to only focus on fat,cals and sodium.

lollyish

yogurt is full of sugar, as are fruits.
I limit the amount of fruit I eat in a day, ususally a handful of berries as a snack does me and I am Paleo so no yogurt for me.
Regardless of how healthy fruit is, your body still registers sugar from fruit as sugar. So it will stick react the same way.
Sugar is sugar.

elephant_in_the_room

Regardless of how healthy fruit is, your body still registers sugar from fruit as sugar. So it will stick react the same way.
Sugar is sugar.

I disagree. It may be just me, but...
See my post above: 100g apple, 10g sugar, or so.
When I eat 10g refined sugar in, say, pastry, or with fat, it makes me crave more. The theory is: insulin levels up, sugar stored as fat, more hunger....
When I eat said apple, I am full, quite totally, no craving for more. No, it keeps me full for 1-2 hours or at least can significantly reduce my hunger.
Of course, in the apple, the sugar is mixed with pectin, a fibre that makes me feel full.
That apple is a gorgeous concoction... The sugar is distributed to perfect sweetness with minimum actual sugar.
And in that sense... Not all sugars are equal; it matters how and with what they come....

Kadi82

I can go over my weekly sugar on MFP within 3 days. I eat a lot of fruit and it just counts it under the sugar. At first it bothered me as I wanted to cut down on the bad sugars. But once I worked out was the fruit I just ignored the sugar totals

TheVimFuego

Over daily, as long as I hit my protein target the rest can fall where they may.

I eat a lot of fruit during the week and I ain't listening to anyone who tells me this is bad.

Lupercalia

I don't typically go over in sugars unless I eat something sugary or have more fruit than usual. I eat a paleo/primal low carb diet, so no grains, no sugars....I eat a little whole dairy here and there and the occasional bit of fruit, mostly in the form of berries.

I'm most concerned about sugars that are added to foods (sweetened yogurts, for example), not those that occur naturally in whole foods (sugars in fruits, whole dairy products). That said, I also wouldn't be eating a diet that included of tons of fruit, honey, etc.

If you're concerned about sugar, I think the best advice is to just focus on eating whole foods, and in a balanced way. Try to balance the fruit with more leafy green veggies or cruciferous veggies....and especially watch those foods that are high on the glycemic index--white potatoes, for instance.

spamantha57

If I go over in things like sugars or carbs I don't really mind much, because 95% of the time I know I'm getting it from healthy sources.

I like using my food log to see patterns & find what I'm low in or need to eat more of. For example if I'm halfway through my day or wondering what to eat for dinner & notice I'm low in protein, or only 1/2 my goal of fiber for the day, etc., I'll think of foods that have those particular nutrients & choose from there.

bathsheba_c

The MFP sugar recommendation is really low. Based on World Health Organization and USDA estimates, a person on a 2,000 calorie diet should be eating about 50 g of sugar.

Since sugar and fiber represent the sum total of carbs, you can keep better track by just making sure to stay under your carb target and at or over your fiber target.

Also, combining sugar with protein helps stave off sugar highs and crashes.

Loved1s

Beware of added sugars! Particularly High Fructose Corn Syrup... Studies have shown that it causes weight gain and a craving for more. It is in about 90% of processed foods that you find in a typical grocery store! Why on earth whole wheat bread needs corn syrup in it is beyond me! When I'm eating mostly whole foods, I have no problem staying close to sugar goal. As for yogurt... I eat plain nonfat Greek and cut up apples (or pears, or add berries) and add cinnamon for flavor w a light drizzle of agave! Yum!!! Way less sugar than your standard fruit on the bottom.

FitnessGal1983

I think it depends on why you're counting sugar. If you're diabetic, then it's important so you don't get low blood sugar from meds. If you're trying to lose weight faster than 1 pound per week, then all sugar counts because sugar is carbs. Your body uses carbs for energy before anything else. Too many carbs means slow (or none) weight loss.

I do low carb so I automatically avoid certain foods (and of course sweet junk food or soda!) It's worked for me so far, but I still have 30 pounds to go ... sigh.

cjsacto

I manually adjusted my sugar goal to 55g, and it goes up when my calorie goal goes up. Honestly, I still go over, though, even if I don't add sugar/honey etc. to anything for the day or eat sweetened processed foods. I may up it again just so I don't see the red number. Incidentally, I also upped my goal for fiber to 30g based on a recommendation I read somewhere.

I try to have two servings of fruit per day - not more or less so I get the benefits of the fruit with a reasonable amount of sugar. I eat a lot of onion, and that's high in sugar, too. Oh, and tomatoes which I don't count as serving of fruit. And sweet potatoes, which are great for you.

If I'm under 100g of sugar (on a 1900 calorie day) and under my goal for total carbs I feel OK about it, though I know it sounds high. I did some research and there's no RDA minimum for sugar - it's not considered necessary. I did find some recommendations about total daily percent of calories from sugar - one said no more than 10% of your calories should come from sugar, another said 25% and I'm still not positive if they were talking refined sugar or all dietary sugars.

Edit to add: I found a website with a calculator for sugar. Of course every recommendation is a bit different, but assuming 25% of all calories can be from sugar (and that's quite a bit), this website said I could have 475 calories from sugar if I eat 1900 calories. At 3.8 calories per gram, that's 125 grams. Of course the 10% recommendation puts it quite a bit less, but OP if you are under 60 grams per day you are absolutely fine.

http://www.webcalcsolutions.com/Nutrition-Calculators/Calorie-Breakdown.asp?AcctNum=3

MelanieAnneWoods

Yes, I always go ever in sugars and sometimes protein. I drink one glass of red grape juice "no sugar added" with lunch but there is still a lot of fructose (fruit sugar) in it. I am more concerned with fat and calories though so don't worry too much about sugars.

lucylousmummy

i've been driving myself insane for a couple of months trying to stay under on my sugar levels, i was going over every single day (fruit, fruit juice) now i've stopped tracking it completely and have got a better grip on my diet